An idea came to me as I flew home yesterday that I would like to float by the members of this and other magic communities. I would like to do more than float it by you I am asking for your help.

I was performing in Wilmington Delaware over the weekend and there was a front-page article in the local paper about the Salvation Army. In short they were having trouble getting enough volunteers to ring the bells and man the kettles this year. Now love them or be annoyed by them (the bells, that is) I was not aware that the kettles have been used to provide free Christmas dinners to the nations poor since 1891. I was further impressed by the fact that today the Salvation Army aids more than 7,000,000 Americans by providing a meal at Thanksgiving and Christmas.

Most of us are fortunate. Lets take a quick look at what we have. We have jobs that allow us to provide for our families and we have a common love of performing magic (for some of us it is one and the same). And although each of us may not have the disposable income that would allow financial contributions to a worthy cause, I do believe there is one additional thing that we all have in common - and that is time (not to mention our hearts). So lets look at the two common denominators -PERFORMING MAGIC and TIME.

If you put them together and add the people in need across our country you get a program I have created called THE MAGIC OF GIVING.

With your help it will work like this. On Saturday December 22 thousands of magicians across the country will come together to help those families in their communities who are less fortunate and otherwise would not have a Christmas Dinner. Each magician would volunteer to perform/work at a Salvation Army Kettle for 2 or 3 hours (even 1 hour would be a first step and we would certainly accept more. Hey why not team up and get a couple of guys to work shifts). All donations received would go in to the Salvation Army kettles to feed families in the magicians own towns.

That is it. You go out and do something most magicians do not get enough of an opportunity to do perform in front of lay people. You call attention to a worthy cause the feeding of those less fortunate in your home towns. And you should feel great that through your performance you will have brought some real magic to those children and families in need this holiday.

Some times we lose sight of the fact that each of us doing just a little good results in a whole lot of good. For example if we could get just half of Geniis 6,500 subscribers and throw in some of Stan Allens subscribers and get word out through the IBM and SAM rings as a magic community we could raise well over $1,000,000.00 (thats right MILLION dollars). You see 5,000 magicians raising only $100.00 an hour for two hours each puts us at a million. That is a potential that we could all be very proud of.

In registering this program I would like to see it become more than an annual event. It is a way to bring a positive focus to the magic community as a whole while benefiting those in our country who are in need.

Although personally I do not hold Mr. David Blane in very high regard or any regard for that matter I have heard plenty of magicians who believe they could have done better just given the chance. Well here it is. Get out there and share your magic with the public and who knows you may just get that big break everyone dreams of. And just think you are doing it all for a good cause.

My attorneys and manager are currently working on coordination with the Salvation Army at a national level and I will post more information as it becomes available. It is not my intention to limit these efforts to the Salvation Army, as I have no personal affiliation with them or any other non-profit group other than my respect for their efforts to help others. We are looking at ways to expand THE MAGIC OF GIVING to benefit other charities. Any ideas you have would be welcomed at magicofgiving@thegillisgroup.com.

You can help in the following ways. Let me know if you like the idea. Let me know other magic forums and web pages where we could post this information. Take this information to your local IBM or SAM ring. Or if you are not affiliated tell a magic friend or two. And finally get ready to go out and volunteer.

This is actually part of a much larger issue. A number of charities are suffering much lower donations due to the terrific response to collecting funds for victims of the 911 tragedy. While this is obviously a good thing it has hit the other charities. I would suggest magicians take the time to volunteer, or for those who can, to contribute to their favorite charities.There are many worthy chariities that need a boost this year. Let's all make the effort to help our favorite charity.

All of the worthwile organizations helping those in need could benefit from our help. I was faced with the specific question of how could we as a magic community help the most people in the shortest amount of time possible.

My solution was the kettle program. It is a very visible means of raising funds that is present in most communities accross the country. So I felt that it would be easier to bring magic to an existing fund raising tool than to create a new one.